A practical guide for podcasters, authors, and independent businesses. No fluff, no agency jargon — just what journalists actually need.
A press release is a short, news-style document you send to journalists and media contacts to announce something. It's written in the third person, formatted like a news story, and structured so a journalist can pull quotes and facts directly from it — ideally without having to contact you first.
The goal isn't to get a journalist to publish your exact words. It's to give them enough to decide whether the story is interesting, and then enough material to write about it quickly if they decide it is.
Think of a press release as a pitch and a source document in one. The headline pitches the story. The body proves it. The quote gives the journalist something human to print.
Press releases are for newsworthy moments. Not every business update warrants one — but these do:
Would a journalist find this interesting if it happened to someone else? If the answer is yes, it's probably newsworthy. If the only people who would care are you and your immediate circle, it might not be ready yet.
Every press release follows the same format. Journalists expect this. Deviating from it makes more work for them, which means they're less likely to cover your story.
| Element | Description | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Headline | The story in one line. Clear, specific, third person. | 10–15 words |
| Dateline | City, State — Date — First sentence of the release. | One line |
| Lead paragraph | Who, what, when, where, why — all in the first paragraph. | 2–3 sentences |
| Body paragraphs | Supporting details, context, additional facts. | 2–4 paragraphs |
| Quote | A real, publishable quote from you or someone relevant. | 1–3 sentences |
| Boilerplate | "About [Company]" — standard background blurb. | 3–5 sentences |
| ### | Three pound signs signal the end of the release. | — |
| Contact info | Name, email, phone for media follow-up. | 4–6 lines |
Your headline is the single most important line in the document. If it doesn't grab a journalist's attention in their inbox, nothing else matters. Most people write their headline last — after the rest of the release is done — because that's when they best understand what the actual story is.
The dateline opens the release and flows directly into your first sentence. Format it as CITY, State — Month DD, YYYY — followed immediately by the first sentence of the lead paragraph.
Notice that the lead answers all five questions: who (True Verdict, hosted by Rachel Howe), what (one million downloads), when (today), where (US), and why it matters (fastest-growing independent crime podcast).
Press releases are written in "inverted pyramid" style — the most important information comes first. Journalists sometimes cut from the bottom to fit word count. Make sure everything critical is in the first two paragraphs.
The body expands on the lead with supporting detail. Think of it as answering the follow-up questions a journalist would ask if they called you after reading the headline:
Every press release needs at least one quote, and it should be something you'd actually say out loud — not corporate-speak. The quote is the human element. It's the only place in the release where personality is expected.
Keep the body to 300–500 words total. Journalists don't want a novel. If there's more to say, save it for the interview.
The boilerplate is a short, standard paragraph about your company or show that runs at the end of every release. Write it once and reuse it. It's usually prefaced with "About [Name]:"
Keep it factual and under five sentences. No adjectives like "award-winning" unless you actually have an award. No "passionate" or "dedicated."
Below the ### end marker, include a media contact block. This is who journalists will call or email with questions. It should be a real person who can respond quickly.
Make sure the contact information you enter in PressLaunch matches who you want journalists reaching out to. It will be included verbatim in the distributed release.
Press releases are not ads. The moment you write "Get yours today!" or "Call now," you've lost the journalist. Write like a reporter covering the story about you, not like a marketer selling to you.
Don't "warm up" with background before getting to the point. The news goes in the headline and the first sentence. If a journalist has to read three paragraphs to figure out what you're announcing, they won't.
"Growing rapidly" and "significant milestone" mean nothing. Specific numbers — 10,000 listeners, 500 copies sold in the first week, 3 new locations — are news. Vague claims are not.
Your quote should sound like you. If it's full of words you'd never say — "synergistic," "leveraging," "stakeholders" — rewrite it. Journalists can tell when a quote was written by a committee.
Launching a business or starting a podcast is not, by itself, newsworthy. There needs to be an angle: who you are, why it's different, who it's for, and why now. "I made a thing" is not a story. "I made a thing that serves an underserved community in a specific way" might be.